Bad news from our friends at MiceAge...

Nubs70

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
orky8 said:
This is WDW's achille's heal -- and I think they know it. WDW's strategy has been to keep people on property so as to capture 100% of their vacation spend - park, hotel, food, and merch. If a guest leaves property, even if only for a day or two, everything changes as to where that guest may spend its money. As @ParentsOf4 has aptly pointed out many times, WDW is a hotel and timeshare businesses. An incredibly profitable one with exorbitant rates. To fill those rooms WDW operates theme parks and gives guests free transportation on property and to/from the airport. If a guest stays on property, Disney makes their lives easy (ok, well, not really but we'll debate the horrid state of the bus system later)

BUT, leaving property adds a new level of complication to the vacation plans. If a guest goes to Universal for a day or two, now they need a car (easiest way). Once a guest has a car, WDW's walled garden begins to fall apart. I completely agree that maybe in the short term the guest will continue to stay on property, but as more and more spend time off property, the perceived benefit of staying on property begins to quickly diminish, especially considering it is markedly more expensive, and maybe next trip the guest will go off property.

Furthermore, the profitability of that guest begins to drop rapidly too. Disney doesn't care about losing the park days -- afterall a 5 day ticket only costs a few dollars more than a 4 day ticket -- but is very concerned about losing nights spent at its hotels, as each night costs the same. As far as Disney is concerned, the fewer days a guest spends at the parks, the better, as the parks cost money to operate. I don't think Disney is concerned that Uni is building amazing theme parks that will draw guests for a day or two -- it welcomes that. But, I think Disney should be very concerned that Uni plans to significantly increase its hotel offerings as well. And, Uni is also building compelling reasons to consider its hotels, which are considerably less expensive that Disney's.
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The last paragraph is beautiful,as is the rest. If a guest finally decides to stay off site just 1 day out of a 5 day trip, Rasulo' s (sp?) precious PRGS takes a 20% hit.
 
Big C 73

Big C 73

Well-Known Member
wdisney9000 said:
Today it may just be the ceiling. Next thing you know, the walls are disgusting, then the floors. Before you know it the ride vehicles have bugs in them. At what point is it appropriate to say something?
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I agree completely. I'm not one who likes to b**** about everything, and I usually like to favor Disney's decisions, but I'm a stickler on maintenance. The problem is everyone now likes to say "it's okay" or "that's good enough". Good enough never got Disney to where it is now, they constructed the company based on optimism, intelligent thinking and development, and high standards. One thing that remains vital within Walt Disney theme parks is the pure dedication to show. A show which possesses immense detail and immersion that is performed implementing pure dedication to proposing the proper developed character amongst the audience. A perfect idealized world is presented, and if an imperfection is indicated by the audience or guest, the illusion is immensely decomposed. I don't know about you but cobwebs are not ideal in my perfect world. It's as simple as this, would you rather go attend a performance in a theater with rats crawling over your shoes and water leaking on you head for a premium admission price and say "it's good enough" or pay a premium price for a show in Carnegie Hall?
 
Nubs70

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
Nubs70 said:
The last paragraph is beautiful,as is the rest. If a guest finally decides to stay off site just 1 day out of a 5 day trip, Rasulo' s (sp?) precious PRGS takes a 20% hit.
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And I need to add, if the above scenario is combined with the capital outlay for MM+, PRGS will be close to 40% below what is needed to financially justify MM+. See the potential time bomb that is waiting over the horizon?
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
SoccerLover100 said:
It seems like most of the posters are so concerned with finding the negative things that they forget about the good things right in front of them. You guys need to lighten up.
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Lightnen up?

And accept how the guest are treated by managent? And accept how the cast are treated by management?

This isn't a case of making chicken salad out of chicken sh**. This is a case of a multi-billion dollar cope oration milking every dollar out of its employees and it's customer base.

This is nowhere near the company that Walt started, Ron continued or that Michael saved.
 
jlsHouston

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
SoccerLover100 said:
It seems like most of the posters are so concerned with finding the negative things that they forget about the good things right in front of them. You guys need to lighten up.
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I think you drew the wrong conclusion in reading opinions, I would venture to say ALL of the posters on wdwmagic are not haters but majorly enamored of the mouse and have extremely fond memories of their time spent at WDW. In a world where alot of stuff doesn't matter...here it matters...I am not sure why..it was "one man's dream" but collectively we have bought it and it is now our dream too. So when we opine about the sorry state of a park or a change or a lack of change....it's precisely because we don't want the good degraded...
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Disney losing its way in customer service is not limited just to the parks... Wait till I write up my latest experience with the online Disney store.

Incompetence, blaming the customer, and grabbing pennies while dollars fly over their head.... And losing customers in the process. But they told me to have a magical day!

magical boilerplate is no replacement for ACTUAL customer service and appreciation. I'll write it up tomorrow maybe

This company is so broke...
 
wdisney9000

wdisney9000

Truindenashendubapreser
Premium Member
flynnibus said:
Disney losing its way in customer service is not limited just to the parks... Wait till I write up my latest experience with the online Disney store.

Incompetence, blaming the customer, and grabbing pennies while dollars fly over their head.... And losing customers in the process. But they told me to have a magical day!

magical boilerplate is no replacement for ACTUAL customer service and appreciation. I'll write it up tomorrow maybe

This company is so broke...
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I hope you write it by the time I have my morning coffee. Should be a good read. looking forward to it.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
SoccerLover100 said:
It's because every time I have been to disney world, I have NEVER noticed cobwebs or such on rides or rides being messed up etc.... That's why it's so hard for me to understand how you guys could possibly notice all this? And no I don't wear rose colored glasses like someone said above.
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Do you dismiss a movie critic who can notice the small nuances of cinematography that you would never see?
Do you dismiss a wine connoisseur who can taste differences in grapes that you cannot taste?
Do you dismiss a musician who can hear a slightly flat note you cannot distinguish?
 
jlsHouston

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
Well
flynnibus said:
Disney losing its way in customer service is not limited just to the parks... Wait till I write up my latest experience with the online Disney store.

Incompetence, blaming the customer, and grabbing pennies while dollars fly over their head.... And losing customers in the process. But they told me to have a magical day!

F'ing magical boilerplate is no replacement for ACTUAL customer service and appreciation. I'll write it up tomorrow maybe

This company is so broke...
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Well I did have a surprisingly good experience with ordering something from the Emporium after we left WDW. And I was really shocked and happily surprised. My younger daughter loves her pjs and has several disney sets she has bought herself and fell in love with the red plaid disney nightie shirt we saw in the emporium....But the day we were in there was the day I still had no room charge ability due to a feature with MM+ eliminating it entirely on both our MB's and Kttw cards and I went to the MK that day with a couple of 20's no credit or debit card and one last lonely disney gift card...so of course I told her well we will come back and get it...and we never did.
Around about December 10th I am feeling all kinds of guilty that DD29 thinks she is getting this nightie and her mama never did go back and buy it. So I find the number for ordering merchandise from the Emporium and call and get a Jody on the phone who puts my order in and I pay for regular shipping because expedited shipping was 25 bucks and she couldn't even guarantee I would get the nightie even before or after Christmas....

On December 23rd an email pops up that I have a fedex overnight package arriving Christmas Eve...from Disney...and guess what it was...the NIGHTIE!
How magical was that ?
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
alissafalco said:
No, not just the ceiling, when there is a low bridge by your head with cob webs hanging down its hard to miss! Your sarcastic posts are not appreciated.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/spider-webs-on-iasw-gross.876900/
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For the record, I did not notice any cobwebs on IASW when I was on it the other day. That doesn't mean they weren't there when you visited, but there were none that I noticed, and for some reason the overhead lights were on high, so I think I would have noticed as I was noticing everything.
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
SoccerLover100 said:
It's because every time I have been to disney world, I have NEVER noticed cobwebs or such on rides or rides being messed up etc.... That's why it's so hard for me to understand how you guys could possibly notice all this? And no I don't wear rose colored glasses like someone said above.
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Unless you have eyes in WDW 24/7 everywhere, you are not going to notice all of the problems that guests pick up on when they visit. I never saw Cobwebs either; I was there yesterday and before that in August...that doesn't mean they weren't there in between or that I just didn't notice.

Some things are too obvious not to notice. Degrading film on Soarin' and disco Yeti. Or the fact that the red spinning light on Buzz not working.

We're not saying that WDW has to be 100% perfect everyday, but when there is a certain expected quality and it is not attained, we're disappointed and want them to do better.
 
Beholder

Beholder

Well-Known Member
The first time I was able to take my wife to WDW, I asked her to keep an eye out for trash on the ground. I told her that WDW is probably the cleanest place you will ever see, especially in terms of a theme park environment. That was 18 years ago. Now, I honestly don't even mention that little exercise. I don't seek out things that are broke or weathered or dirty, but when I used to make a point of TRYING to find the "dirt", but I now instead make a point of trying NOT to notice the "dirt", something is wrong. I'm not saying that the sky is falling (yet?), but Disney created and established these standards, not me. But generations of people have bought into this idea of excellent and unparalleled quality. All I want is for Disney to maintain it. Especially if they expect me to keep "buying" it.
 

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